[KS] Joseon-era official terms

[BakerDon]

I took a break from visiting with family and checked a little more on the meaning of 포도부장. I found the following definition at http://www.sacerdos.net/sacerdosbbs/board.php?board=catholicdiction&page=282&sort=hit&command=body&no=4254


 조선시대 포도청(捕盜廳)의 한 벼슬. 포교(捕校), 또는 포도군관(捕盜軍官)으로도 불렸다. 포도부장은 좌 · 우 포도청에 각각 4명이 있었는데 그 위의 직급으로는 종사관(從事官), 포도대장(捕盜大將)이, 밑의 직급으로는 무료부장(無料部將), 가설부장(加說部將), 포도군사(捕盜軍士) 등이 있었다. 포도부장은 평상시에는 포도대장의 사택(私宅) 근처에 설치되어 있던 사관청(仕官廳)에서 공무를 집행했고, 순찰시에는 통부(通符)[죄인을 체포할 때 제시하는 증명, 오늘날의 영장과 같은 구실을 함]를 차고 포졸들을 거느리고 도성 안팎을 순찰하며 죄인을 체포하였다


That suggests that I was wrong when I said in my earlier email that 포도부장 referred to the head of a local police station.  포도부장 is not the head of local police station as such. Instead, according to the definition above, he is a mid-level policeman (a better term might be officer of the court)  working for the 포도청, the office of the Capital Police in Seoul. Does anyone on this list know much about law enforcement outside of Seoul during the Chosŏn dynasty?  I thought I had seen a reference somewhere to someone being held in a 포도부 in the countryside, but, since I am away from my home office with all my books and notes, I can't check on that now. Don Baker ProfessorDepartment of Asian Studies University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Z2 don.baker at ubc.ca

 		 	   		  
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